Mastering Denying in Dota 2

Mastering Denying in Dota 2

What is Denying?

In Dota 2, denying is an action in which a player kills his own lane creep so that the enemy cannot kill it. This action is only possible when the creep’s health drops below a certain level of health points. The symbol of a successful denial of a creep is an exclamation mark, or a question mark on April Fool’s Day placed above the denied creep.

Although denying does not give you any gold or experience directly, it takes away the gold and experience your opponent would have gotten from killing your creep. This tactic is particularly important during the laning phase where both teams are trying to get as many last hits and denies as possible.

How to Deny Creeps

Every hero in Dota 2 can deny creeps if they attack the creeps when they are below fifty percent of their health. This can be done by either right clicking on the creep or by pressing the hot key Ctrl + A to select the dying ally creep. Timing is important; you have to do the deny before your opponent gets the final hit.

First, focus on denying high value creeps, such as the ranged lane creep which gives more gold and experience. The ranged creep is usually placed at the back, so it is easier to deny without coming into contact with your opponent. Sometimes it is better to deny a ranged creep than a melee one, if the latter is too dangerous.

You can also deny allied heroes and buildings at 25% and 10% health respectively. For allied heroes, an additional condition is required: the hero must be under a health-reducing debuff, for example, Venomancer’s poison damage or Queen of Pain’s Shadow Strike.

Some heroes can reject creeps without waiting for their health to drop to the level indicated by the threshold. For example, Enigma’s Demonic Summoning skill turns an ally creep into eidolons. In the past, Lich had a trick to deny a creep for mana, but this ability was changed in the recent patches.

How to Deny Your Hero

There are cases where it is beneficial to deny oneself, for instance, when one’s death will be of benefit to the enemy. This can be done by letting a neutral jungle creep to finish off the opponent. While the game log will indicate that a neutral creep killed you, you prevent your opponent from gaining any gold and experience from your death.

This tactic can also be employed to quickly go back to base when you are low on health and do not wish to walk a long distance.

Denying Items

Denying items entails throwing them away when they are on the ground. This does not have any positive effects but can be employed to deny the opponents the opportunity to acquire important items. However, this tactic can be abused by toxic players to mess up their team if the game is not going well.

Arguably one of the most famous cases of item denial in Dota 2 competitive history took place during the TI3 semi-finals. Team Orange’s Lee “kYxY” Kong Yang made a mistake of denying the Aegis while attacking Roshan and this led to the team’s loss to Natus Vincere.

Denying in Dota 2 is a skill that can be very useful in a game, as it allows you to prevent the enemy from gaining important resources and even change the course of the battle.

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